Laterite was founded in Rwanda in 2010 with a mission to provide high-quality data collection and research services to accelerate social impact. A key area for impact is in education. Our team has worked on various projects in education research, many of them involving primary data collection in Rwandan schools.
Every time we start a new project, we improve our process for collecting quality data, with a value-for-money approach and minimum disruption to the school routine and students’ learning. For us, it all starts with careful planning, considering the schools’ routines and the time required to secure approvals from the Rwanda National Ethics Committee and the National Council for Science and Technology. We find that local support goes a long way to guarantee a smooth process.
This note summarizes the lessons we learned along the way in the hope that others may find it useful.
Key tips for efficient data collection in Rwandan schools:
- Plan time to secure approvals
- Understand the academic calendar
- Work with the school timetable
- Recruit a small & experienced team
- Pilot data collection activities
- Optimize the data collection set up
- Share the findings with participants
Read the guide here and on our publications page:
